Magician in Type-Moon

Page 208

After hearing this, Orange nodded thoughtfully:

"You mean, all the demands and threats this guy is making now are the conditions for the 'hero' to defeat the 'demon king'?"

"That's right. All his actions were just paving the way for the final condition to be met, using chaos and fear to influence people's hearts."

At this point, Matou Ike smiled slightly and suddenly asked:

"By the way, Orange, as a Grand-level puppeteer, didn't you notice anything amiss? Or were you so engrossed in your dance that you overlooked the changes around you?"

"Variety?"

Before Orange could even think, the video on the screen had already moved on to the next stage as the waltz music ended.

"You danced really well. Although I don't know anything about dance, your dance moves are still impressive. As a reward, I'll announce some news to everyone."

The Bomb Demon's mouth smirked beneath the mask:

"I planted a bomb in this building that could blow the entire mall to smithereens. How about that? Pretty good news, right?"

That's certainly good news, but it only applies to Matou Ike and Aozaki Touko.

But for others, it's like a death sentence.

"Quiet down. What follows is punishment for you poor dancers. It will determine whether you live or die."

For ordinary people already under the dual pressure of fear and chaos, this statement was like a lifeline; they had already given their lives to the person on the screen.

"Your punishment is to kill the guy who won first place in this dance competition."

"As long as you abandon those so-called moral principles and become a beast, you can survive this purgatory. This is your punishment!"

The guy on the screen took a device out of his pocket and waved it at the crowd below.

"Hahaha, let me see what you guys are capable of. As long as you make me happy, maybe this detonator will never be activated."

"I'm only giving you five minutes to think it over. Once the time is up, you can all say 'goodbye' to tomorrow."

Chapter 268 A Foolish Answer

For most people, morality is something that is dispensable.

But there's another thing that's intertwined with morality that most people can't give up.

That is "face".

This is something that's hard to give up, especially since everyone present is a prominent and influential entrepreneur.

No one would be so shameless as to do something that would lead to a lifetime of gossip and criticism.

In situations like these, it's often necessary to have some pioneers who dare to be the first to try something new.

But the courage required to be the "first to try something new" is something not everyone can do.

Thus, a stalemate occurred.

All eyes were fixed on Matou Ike and Aozaki Touko.

If it were an ordinary person, they would have already collapsed under the pressure.

"Things are getting a bit complicated, Matou," Aozaki Touko sighed.

She truly never expected things to turn out this way.

The so-called rewards and punishments actually have nothing to do with other people.

From Orange's perspective, the masked man on the screen, if he knew anything about Matou Ike and her.

They must understand that these ordinary people pose no threat to the two of them.

The so-called "bomb capable of destroying a building" might not necessarily cause any real harm to the two of them.

There's even a possibility that there was never that bomb at all.

What the bomb-wielding demon wanted to do was not to test the moral standards of ordinary people, but to test the moral standards of Matou Ike and her.

That punishment, in a different way, meant: "If you two don't want the others to die like this, then you'd better stay put and let the others take your place."

It's somewhat ridiculous.

It's hard to imagine what kind of mind could come up with such a naive plan.

Are you a student in the second year of junior high school, currently in the second stage of junior high?

Using this to test a magician?

Aozaki Touko has now confirmed the extent of Araya Souren's involvement in this matter.

Aside from providing intelligence and items, it's basically worthless.

If this really was Araya Souren's doing, then Touko will definitely use this to mock him to his face.

Extremely boring.

"Alright, Matou, what are you going to do? There are four minutes and thirty seconds left. Are you going to run away?" Touko looked at Matou Ike with a bored expression.

“Running away is not a good option. These guys are all business elites. If they all die here, the government will not ignore it.”

"Although the Japanese government is just so-so, I'm afraid it might attract the attention of the association, which would be troublesome."

Matou Ike said calmly, rejecting the proposal.

"I see, that is indeed troublesome." Orange nodded in understanding.

Supernatural events investigated by relevant government departments in various countries are the focus of the association's investigations, in order to prevent the mystery from being leaked.

"You seem quite relaxed and carefree. Could it be that you've already set up a protective barrier?" Aozaki Touko looked at Matou Ike with suspicion.

"How is that possible? Covering this entire hall and withstanding the bomb that guy mentioned, there simply isn't enough time."

Matou Ike's eyes lit up as she scanned her surroundings.

"Are you using futuristic vision? Did you see something like a happy ending?" Orange noticed Matou Ike's actions.

Matou Ike didn't answer, but instead asked Touko:

"You seem quite certain that these people won't attack us in the next five minutes?"

"Didn't even you notice? After that guy stated those conditions, I used group suggestion. Although it's not as powerful as individual hypnosis, it still amplifies their sense of shame."

Orange replied with a smile.

"But this is only a fragile balance. As long as someone can break through this influence and tilt the scales down even slightly, your magic will break."

Matou Ike shook her head and retorted to Aozaki Touko in a playful manner.

"You don't think my magic is that easy to break, do you?" Orange puffed out her chest. She was a Grand-rank magician, and this guy Matou Ike was actually doubting the reliability of her magic.

“Ordinary people certainly couldn’t do it, and even most magicians probably couldn’t either, but what if the ‘first person to try it’ wasn’t a living creature?”

Matou Ike glanced down twice, then quickly looked away.

"You mean the doll? How did you figure that out?"

Another part of that sentence is, "Even I didn't realize it."

After Aozaki Touko understood Matou Ike's words, she suddenly remembered that Matou Ike had been mentioning her title as a Grand Puppeteer, and realized that this guy had been putting her down from the very beginning.

Unable to resist, she stomped hard on Matou Ike's foot with her high heels.

“Of course, it’s when we’re dancing. Although Orange, your dancing skills are unparalleled, I’m still just a beginner.” Matou Ike said with a slight smile, tinged with a hint of teasing.

“However, the real purpose of the dance competition is for us to be the two people who receive the ‘reward,’ which raises a question,” Matou Ike continued, a strange look in his voice.

“Everyone here would perform worse than us. Aside from factors like fear causing instability, with so many people here, surely one or two could jump better than us?”

Matou Ike said with a smile.

Orange's smile gradually faded, and her eyes sharpened.

"You mean, to ensure this situation, that guy replaced all the better dancers with puppets? But how did he know who would dance better... No way!"

She stopped abruptly, realizing she had said the wrong thing.

That's a stupid question.

That bomb-wielding monster has future vision, so of course he can see in advance which group of people can jump even better than the two of them in this situation!

Matou Ike chuckled softly, then suddenly grabbed Touko's arm, his voice low and urgent:

"Orange, you must know this, right? If a complete novice who doesn't know anything about puppets wants to control a puppet, the only thing they can do is pre-record a waltz to direct the puppet's movements, and then give it an instruction to make it make a mistake."

Before Matou Ike could finish speaking, Touko instantly realized:

"But puppets don't make mistakes naturally. Those mistakes are completely different from the subtle deviations in movement that occur in the human body due to emotional and hormonal fluctuations. This is the most common mistake that novices make when operating puppets—puppets of this level cannot imitate real humans."

"Yes, but you were so focused on the ball that you didn't even notice these things, my Grand Puppeteer."

Matou Ike laughed heartily and teased.

Just as Orange was about to retort, she suddenly noticed a change in the atmosphere around her—something was wrong.

The sudden change made the surrounding dolls restless.

The balance created by the group suggestion magic has been broken, and there are already "first movers" who have emerged.

Almost everyone rushed towards Matou Ike and Aozaki Touko.

Chapter 269 The Broom Witch

As more and more people descended into madness, the atmosphere at the dinner party completely collapsed.

Fear spread rapidly, like an uncontrollable plague, infecting everyone present.

Those who were initially maintaining their rationality, after witnessing the impulsive actions of a few puppets, completely lost the power to suppress their shame and instead followed the trend of madness.

The masked man on the screen chuckled as he watched this scene.

They seem to be eagerly anticipating what Matou Ike and Aozaki Touko will do next.

Although it was just a video recording, its perfect accuracy in mirroring reality still left me feeling incredibly annoyed.

Seeing the crowd gradually gathering, Matou Ike grabbed Touko's wrist and said:

"Orange, do you know why people fly into the sky?"